New York ends religious exemption for COVID vaccine mandate: 450,000 healthcare workers affected

[Hoodat]

New York ends religious exemption for COVID vaccine mandate: 450,000 healthcare workers affected

Healthcare employees in the state must take the experimental injection or face termination regardless of religious objections.

Ashley Sadler   |   Mon Aug 30, 2021 - 7:30 am EDT

ALBANY, New York (LifeSiteNews) — Healthcare workers in the state of New York ordered to get the COVID-19 jab will not have the option of a religious exemption, thanks to emergency authorization passed late last week.

In Thursday’s decision, a New York State Department of Health board unanimously approved a COVID-19 mandate for all New York healthcare personnel. 

In passing the measure the board also scrubbed the option for a religious exemption, effectively forcing the more than 450,000 healthcare workers in the state to get the jab whether they have religious objections to the abortion-tainted injection or not.

Under the new rules, no more religious exemptions will be granted, and previously obtained religious exemptions will be invalidated.  .  .

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/new-york-ends-religious-exemption-for-covid-vaccine-mandate-450000-healthcare-workers-affected/


More fascism from Democrat fascists.  Enemies of due process since 1836.

[Kamaji]

That should be the basis for a lawsuit.

[jmyrlefuller]

That should be the basis for a lawsuit.

In this state, the courts do what the politicians want. No point in suing.

[mountaineer]

This is written by a civil rights lawyer (a conservative) in W.Va., but may be on topic:

Religious Exemptions for Vaccines under Title 7 and Private Employers in the Health Care Field
Posted on September 25, 2021   

It’s heartbreaking what’s currently happening to health care workers across the country. I’ve talked to dozens here in West Virginia who are currently facing losing their careers due to their health care employer – usually hospitals – mandating the current vaccines. Ironically, one can’t just choose to refrain from taking these vaccines because they’ve undertaken a common sense rational risk vs. reward analysis based on their own circumstances and health care situation, but rather only for religious reasons, which may, nor may not have any basis in rationality. But as with much of civil rights law, the only realistic way of stopping government tyranny is to somehow connect their actions to religious restrictions, because doing so triggers statutory and constitutional protections.

Almost all of the religious exemption applications I’ve seen thus-far have been denied by the large healthcare employers. Outrageously, what I’ve mostly seen is that these HR departments have been essentially arguing theology with these employees. They no doubt assume that the employees are lying, or being un-sincere about their beliefs. They’ve been arguing to the employees that they actually DON’T have a religious exception. They cite the fact that the pope is encouraging people to be vaccinate, etc.

Fortunately, however, the law generally provides that employees aren’t required to follow any particular religion or theology. The requirements are subjective to the employee. The only requirement is that the beliefs, which could just be strongly held moral beliefs, must be sincerely held by the employee. Thus, it doesn’t matter what the Pope said, or even what the pastor of an employee’s church said. What matters is subjective sincerity.

I’ve posted about the New York lawsuit which has currently obtained a temporary restraining order protecting New York health care employees from being fired pursuant to the NY state mandate currently in place. Whenever the ultimate ruling comes in that case, employees will have some legal guidance on what their legal rights may be in the current situation. Until that happens, it makes sense to pay attention to the claims being made by the physicians and other health care workers who are plaintiffs in the case.

The religious exemptions in the NY case surround the fact that the vaccines at issue either utilize, or did utilize in their development stages, fetal cell lines derived from abortions.  ...

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[Hoodat]

Outrageously, what I’ve mostly seen is that these HR departments have been essentially arguing theology with these employees. They no doubt assume that the employees are lying, or being un-sincere about their beliefs. They’ve been arguing to the employees that they actually DON’T have a religious exception. They cite the fact that the pope is encouraging people to be vaccinate, etc.

I rue the day when these empowered anti-religious bureaucrats will be arguing against Christianity itself.